Adequate & Equitable Funding

Overview

State policymakers should design a funding blueprint that identifies the strategies that increase educational excellence, accelerate opportunity, and secure Georgia’s economic future. The blueprint should provide greater assurances that students can reach their full potential, regardless of the non-academic factors that might stifle their success.

Power Strategies

Early Care and Learning 

Allocation of new resources to provide quality school readiness programs for infants and toddlers. 

PreK-12 Education 

Revision of the Quality Basic Education formula to address the effects of poverty on educational outcomes and fund emerging district needs related to transportation, counseling, school safety, and physical and mental health supports. 

Post-Secondary Education  

Redesign of financial aid strategies to ensure programs are student-centered, goal-driven, timely and flexible, and available to all students, regardless of their chosen post-secondary pathway. 

Reforming post-secondary institutional finance models to ensure programs and strategies align with student, community, and workforce needs. 

Data

Early Learning  

  • Percentage enrollment in Georgia Pre-K – total and from low-income families  
  • Third grade reading proficiency  

K-12 Education  

  • High school graduation rates  
  • Quality Counts School Finance Ratings 
  • Total Funding 
  • Adequacy 
  • Equity 
  • Poverty 

Post-Secondary and Workforce Data 

  • Distribution of post-secondary funding from all sources 
  • Adult educational attainment – high school diploma or higher and bachelor’s degree or higher  
  • Labor force participation rates  

Health and Economic Context 

  • Percentage of children and adults with health insurance   
  • Percentage of food-secure residents  
  • Percentage of residents not living in poverty 
Resources